


Less than Human

by KakitoSougo



Series: What "Freedom" Entails [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Reality, Alternate Universe, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Everyone aged up except Shiro, Extremely Slow Burn, F/F, F/M, Half Galran Keith, Lance is L4, M/M, POV Alternating, Slow Burn, allura is questionably altean, end game shklance, half balmerian hunk, its kinda obvious, no one is sure if she is half or full though she says she is full, regular human Lance, regular human shiro
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-03
Updated: 2018-12-12
Packaged: 2019-08-22 09:32:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16595321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KakitoSougo/pseuds/KakitoSougo
Summary: L4 always dreamed of freedom, wondered what it would be like not to spend your days tied up to tubes and locked away on the same spaceship, walking the same halls day in and day out. He long since has forgotten the joys of companionship, the children he grew up alongside long dead years ago.So why wouldn't he take the hand that was stretched out to him?It promised him freedom, and he had nothing left to lose.





	1. The Rescue

**Author's Note:**

> In case you did not read all of the tags, this is a slow burn shklance fic with established Sheith.
> 
> The characters personalities have also been altered a bit to fit their new backstories that I have given them, hopefully, it is not too ooc,,,
> 
> Also, many of you are probably wondering about Pidge and Coran, well worry not I did not forget them, they just don't come in until the second part of the series! Hopefully, you stick around long enough for them to come.

The soft hum of machinery filled the small room as the two gray cloaked druids bustled about, adjusting the machinery hooked up to a human that laid bare on the metal table. The human blinked his eyes slowly, watching the dull gray quintessence flow around the druids as they prepped his body for the next experiment. It was a small room, designed just for the experiment and nothing more and the human never saw anyone else come in or go out of the room except himself, the druids accompanying him and the Witch as some of the Galran guards called her. But that made since no other test subject was like him.

The human barely registers the druids stabbing needles into his numb arms but the burning in his body causes him to hiss as quintessence is forced into his system and out into a few of containers already prepped to receive the quintessence on the other side of him. The human glares at the canister as it fills up with the bright golden liquid quintessence as if the burning would stop.

 The human sat in the quiet hum of machines humming the songs of the test subjects as he watches the canisters fill up. He daydreams of what the planet the quintessence was coming from looked like, both from far away and up close.

It took generations of test subjects to learn that there was life beyond the ship and even longer for them to create their stories of the outside world. All they knew was the Druids who conducted the experiments on them, the Galra who stood guard and beat them when they step out of line, and the Witch who was in charge of their way of life. The pain of the experiments starting their second cycle of life and ending 12 cycles when they return to the quintessence. It was a boring life with only dreams and soft mummers of songs that were devoted to the outside world-  _BEEP BEEP BEEP!!_

The human jumps the numbing pain returning with vigor as bright red lights fill the small room and the blaring sirens that have only gone off once in his 22 cycles of life. The human looks over to the canisters in slight surprise, finding only 6 of the canisters filled. The druids move to unhook the human from the machines when a loud  _boom_ rocks the ship causing even more pain in the human as the machines are ripped out of the human's thin brown arms.

The druids yank him to his feet by his short brown hair sending another shock of pain through the human's skull. They force him down the hall as his head spins and if the human hadn't already walked down these halls a thousand times before he wouldn't have been able to tell they were leading him to his specialized cell. Galra soldiers prepared for battle pass them along the way, explosions shaking the ground as they pass. 

_Pew! Pew!_ The human tries to turn around to figure out the strange sound behind him but before he can see the world phases around him and he reappears in his cell. Instead of the two druids like before, there was only one and after chaining him that one also disappeared.

The human groans and leans his head against the wall listening to the explosions as they continue to shake the ship, his mind wandering over to the other test subjects. The human chest aches as he thinks about them but could do nothing about it. 

At least that is what he thought until the door into the cell busted open and slams against the wall startling the human. 

The first thing the human notices on the intruder is the glowing purple metal hand, that as the silence between the two persisted slowly dims. The second thing was the intruder's quintessence, it was a bold deep purple borderline black and possibly the most dominating quintessence he has ever felt. 

The intruder's quintessence reaches to the ceiling and pours off of the creature that looks very human ignoring the arm. The intruder wore a black and white shirt with black pants and stares down at the human with beautiful grey eyes looking over the human's small form with an unreadable expression as their non-metal hand reaches up to touch their small ear. 

"I found the special test subject," the human jumps at hearing intruders voice as they continue to stare directly at him, "and it appears to be human. Should I take him back with me?"

The human frowns shifting back from the intruder but they do not look away from him, "Understood," the intruder brings their hand back down and holds it out in front of them towards the human, "You can understand me can't you." 

The human glares at the intruder but nods all the same. 

"I won't hurt you, I want to take you away from here..." the intruder tilts their head to get a better look at the human's neck, "L4?" The human slaps his hand on his neck where he knows the name is engraved on his skin. 

The intruder's eyes soften and they bend their knees to be closer to the same level as L4, their quintessence softening in harshness and dominance and L4 unconsciously relaxes in response. "I am going to take you far away from this place. I am going to give you a taste of freedom." 

L4's eyes widen as he tries to imagine a world beyond the tiny rooms and endless cycles of experiments. To get to see planets like the ones told through the stories, and this intruder who has possibly seen more worlds than L4 could possibly imagine. And they were truly offering to take L4 with them. 

"Really?" L4 warily stares at the intruder, his voice rough from being underused except for short shouts of pain.

"Yes," the intruder says with a nod, "but I need you to trust me and do exactly as I say." The intruder moves their hand slightly to attract L4's eyes back to it, silently waiting. L4 looks down at his naked form then back at the intruder's hand and thinks to himself,  _"... I don't have anything else to lose."_

L4 lifts one of his hands into the intruder's large definitely human hand and the intruder pulls  L4 into their large and solid chest. The intruders metal hand lights up and L4 can feel the heat from it as it cuts the chain off of his legs. As soon as the chain falls and clatters on the floor the intruder stands up and pulls L4 up with him still tight against the intruder's chest. 

L4 blinks down surprised his feet couldn't reach the floor and even more surprised when the intruder speaks again. "Do you have clothes somewhere?" 

L4 nods, "One of the doors in the hallway should have some clothes, I was in the middle of an experiment when you came, there was no need for clothes." The intruder nods and turns out of the room still holding L4 to their chest and metal arm lit up and burning as they walked into the hallway, thr intruder's quintessence rising up and once again becoming a dominating presence.

"Which door?" L4 twists in the intruder's arm to point at one of the doors. The intruder puts him down in front of the door and turns to watch the hall, muttering to himself as L4 quickly puts on the black undershirt and pants that fit him, the whole time watching the intruder as they kept their metal arm lit and quintessence fiercely burning around them with its dark color. 

"Done," L4 mutters and without a sparing a second the intruder scoops him up in their muscular arms once again and runs down the hall as the ship rumbles with another explosion. 

L4 stares mutely as the hallways he's known all his life passes him by, ignoring the corpses of the mechanical sentries littering the floor and a couple actual Galran soldiers as well. No,  it wasn't until the intruder brought them to a section of the ship did he start paying attention to his surroundings. There were a lot more corpses here, with all kinds of wounds adorning their corpses and but before L4 could ask where they were the intruder threw him up and into a machine. 

It was slightly bigger than his room but it was empty except for a chair and in front of the chair a bunch of buttons and leavers. The intruder heaved themselves up into the machine and sat down in the chair pressing a button that causes the machine to light up and the top of it to close. 

L4 falls on his ass when the machine starts up and starts moving, it did not help that the intruder kept doing strange moves making L4 end up on his ass time and time again. With a groan, L4 settles to stay on the ground looking out the window at all of the bright lights and quickly moving machines and the giant ones that kept firing small beams of colorful light that destroyed the little ones. The lights and explosions did not stop until the biggest machine exploded, shaking the little machine L4 was in, and leaving nothing left in its wake. 

The intruder sighs and their quintessence softens and L4 reaches to touch it-

"Alright," the intruder says startling L4 to jerk his hand back, the intruder turns around and looks back at L4 with a small smile. "Now we are going to head to the castleship where we will meet up with my-" the intruder looks away biting his lip "-teammates. Stick close to me alright. It is far to easy to get lost there."

L4 nods and the intruder turns around calmly maneuvering the machine turning it away from the destroyed machines and ships towards-  _"white?"_

L4 rolls onto his stomach and stands up to get a better look at the towering white machine that intruder moved closer and closer to, "...wow..."

The intruder laughs startling L4, "It is quite something, huh. That's the castleship, and will be your new home." 

L4 looks back at the white castleship, in awe of its bright blue light that surrounded the whole castleship.  _"...home..."_

 

 The inside of the castleship was just as awe-inspiring as the outside in L4's eyes. The hallways were tall, and seemingly never-ending as the intruder lead him down them confidently. L4 struggles to not get sidetracked by the brightly lit halls that suddenly become even darker than the ones back on the old ship and all of the stairs that make it even more difficult to stay focus causing the intruder to call out his name multiple times to make sure was still following him. 

"L4," the human jumps at his voice being called for probably the thirteenth time since arriving on the floor. L4 turns around and pokes his head around the corner where the intruder was waiting for him with a small smile. L4 ducks his head and runs up to the intruder keeping a small distance from the taller human _?_ The intruder didn't appear to be of another species and L4 has seen all kinds of species. 

The intruder shakes their head turning back to the door in front of them and puts their human hand on the scanner causing the door to slide open quickly and they walk in confidently.

L4 trails behind them and as he steps in when a sudden suffocating pressure weighs down heavily on him. L4 feels his knees buckle under him as the quintessence around him pushes down on him in a way it never has before. 

Beyond the intruder was three completely different looking figures with unbelievably strong quintessence flowing around them, well almost all of them. The one with soft yellow quintessence had a smaller presence than the red and the red and black figures, but only by a bit, especially compared to what L4 was used to. 

It takes L4 a moment to adjust to the force of their quintessence and when he does he notices that one of the figures with the pure red quintessence had moved forward and was now standing beside the intruder staring at L4. Their piercing purple pupil surrounded by golden yellow eyes that sent shivers down L4's spine, their purple fur and large ears was extremely similar to that of the Galran's L4 had seen on the ship yet none of them had such black and long hair. The Galran turns entirely to L4 glaring at him while stepping forward, "So this is the special test subject."

The intruder nodded, "I had to fight two druids to get to him, so he is definitely our main target." 

One of the other figures with long white hair, similarly brown skin like L4's own, and a mix of red and black quintessence crossed their arms as they turned away from L4, "Well since we have what we came for, let us leave this place before the late reinforcements show up."

The Galran snorts as the last figure steps forward, their yellow quintessence somehow mellowing out the red's quintessence in a strange way, and the worry on their otherwise stony facial features stood out weirdly. "He is so thin and pale, how important can he be if they treated him so poorly?"

The intruder shakes his head, "Galrans do not care for their slaves or test subjects. The very fact that they bothered separating him from the rest is the most evidence you are going to get of his importance. That is unless the Witch decides to demand his retrieval but that is highly unlikely." 

L4 flinches at the mention of the Witch,  _"How do they know of her..."_  He shakes his head deciding that will be a question for later, instead, he turns to the intruder and softly asks, "Where are you all taking me?"

Instead of the intruder answering as he hopes, the Galran does, turning back to the figure with long and beautiful white hair and saying loudly, "Good question,  _where_ are we taking them,  _Allura_?"

Allura _?_ turns around with a frustrated sigh, their bright blue eyes staring coldly at the Galran's own purple ones. "We will find a planet outside of Galran reach and continue with our mission of finding Voltron." She turns back forward returning her hand two thingies sticking out of the ground.  "The _special one_ will stay with us, hopefully, he will prove to be advantageous for upcoming battles."

The Galran lets out a loud groan as the intruder rolls their eyes while shaking their head. The one with yellow quintessence twists the ends of the orange band wrapped around their head while staring at the floor. 

"If it even exists," the Galran says indignantly.

Allura whips around startling L4 to take a step back, her face twisted in pure rage and her quintessence flaring up as if to consume the room. The Galran's and intruders quintessences flare up in response as well, the Galran's challenging Allura while the intruder's try to smother them both and L4 finds it hard to breathe. There's just too much pressure, it's too much, he can't-

"You better watch your tongue Akira! I am the captain of this castleship!"

"HA! You are no captain of mine Allura!" 

"THAT IS ENOUGH BOTH OF YOU!! I do not have the patience to deal with your petty squabbles! Stop this instant or both of you will learn who is in charge!!" 

-the pressure is dying. L4 can feel his skin again, and the large cold hand on his arm that is holding him up. L4 turns his head and comes face to face with the yellow quintessence figure looking directly into their golden eyes with hints of brown that L4 would not have been able to spot before, the blocky structure of their face surprisingly soft and rounded at the corners. 

They lift their large hands to the top of L4's hair and ruffles it gently, "It's alright, you are okay now." Once L4 nods they move away, letting L4 go so they can stand up and take a step back.

The intruder sighs as Allura turns back to her thingies and the Galran  _Akira?_ crosses their arms again refusing to look at anyone. The intruder turns to L4 and gives him a small smile. "Since you will be living here with us I think some introductions are in order." They put their hand over their chest and the warmth of their quintessence reaches out to L4, "My name is Ryou, do not hesitate to ask me anything should need it, alright L4?" L4 nods and Ryou nudges Akira who grumbles but doesn't open their eyes. 

Ryou frowns and nudges Akira again who finally turn to glare at them with a growl to which Ryou only chuckled and nudged the Galran with their elbow again. This time Akira sighs and turns to L4 with a huff, "My name is Akira." Then they move from Ryou's side to a wall on the far side of the room, away from Allura but still within L4's line of sight. 

The one with yellow quintessence smiles brightly as their quintessence shimmers with excitement, "My name is Hunk, you will usually find me here at the computers" points to the equipment to Allura's left, "and in my lab which I can show you later." Hunk chuckles and scratches the back of their head ruffling their own dark brown hair.

"And she," Ryou jabs their thumb over their shoulder pointing at Allura's back, "Is Allura. The technical leader of our little group." 

"Just you wait," Allura exclaims not turning around to face them, "the Voltron Coalition will be the largest rebel group in the known universe." L4 blinks turning to Ryou hoping they would explain what a voltron coalition is, but Ryou was to busy shaking their head to bother with explaining it.

"Hunk," Allura continues still not looking back at the rest of them, "take L4 to the other subjects and prepare a room for it for later." 

"Yes ma'am," Hunk moves beside L4 and grabs his upper arm leading L4 out of the room. L4 blinks in surprise when Ryou and Akira follow them out and then go in a different direction. He was sure that if Hunk was not holding him, L4 would have eagerly followed them for whatever reason. 

* * *

Hunk quickly learns that L4 is extremely curious. Hunk was positive if he had let go of L4 even once the human would have disappeared down the halls to be lost in the castle for at least five vargas. 

Hunk was sure that as soon as he put L4 in the repurposed ballroom, he wouldn't have to worry about the test subject anymore but as soon as he opens the door a little girl with green scales and countless eyes jumps up and runs over to them. When L4 tries to pull out of Hunk's grip he lets him go and L4 gets down to his knees to meet the little girls' eyes. 

"What is wrong little one?" L4 tilts his head, and the little girl gives him a smile as she grabs his hands. 

"You are just in time," she exclaims, "D68 is finally going to become one with the quintessence!" L4 lights up with a small smile but Hunk notices something deep in his eyes that isn't as happy as he looks. The little girl pulls on L4 and he gets up to his feet following her. Hunk was just about to turn away when another hand grabs his own, this time it was a young Olkarion around their teens. 

"Yes?" Hunk asks tilting his head in hopes to get away. He wasn't comfortable with all these kids staring at him. 

"It is rude to not watch as someone becomes one with the quintessence, especially if you know about it." The Olkarion glares at him and Hunk bites back a sigh and a groan. 

"A-alright... please take me to this D68..." Hunk knows the Olkarion was being a trickster when they give him the biggest smile possible and drags him towards the group of kids where L4 had disappeared. 

Hunk knew about the test subjects. He knew they were all mostly children and that most of them died at a young age. He has seen a bunch of young children lose their lives as a slave and knew that most if not all of the slaves they rescued today were pretty young for their respective species. He knew all of this, but what he didn't know is how much they loved death. 

Every child sat like they were listing to an elder tell a bedtime story, giving their full attention to L4 and the dying child at the center of the huddle, staring with eyes filled with a pure happiness and interest. Hunk's stomach twists painfully when his eyes land on the young Balmerian in L4's arms and the sickening smile the child had has L4 cooed to him as if he was soothing a child with a fever. Hunk was sure he was going to throw up when the child started coughing up blood and the Olkarian holding his hand only got more excited. 

"Will-" the small Balmerian -that Hunk could now identify as a girl- coughed again the pain so evident on her face yet L4 didn't even seem the least bit bothered by it. "Will I... finally get... to meet... my parents?" As if the wheezing was not enough Hunk's heart shatters in his chest as he hears the question cause he knows those test subjects were the children of slaves and that child probably would not even recognize their parents if they did die as well. 

L4 gave the small girl another too bright smile, "Of course you will. They are waiting for you to close your eyes and allow the quintessence to lead you to them. Far, far away from this pain to a safe place where you can always be happy. Now close your eyes, you do not want to keep them waiting," and as if hearing this command from her home Balmera the little girl closes her eyes and her breath stilled till her chest no longer rise or fall. And as if it was all a sick game the children cheer. 

Hunk steps back, his trembling hand covering his mouth as he keeps himself from throwing up as the children scoop the girl, who could not have been over fifteen deca-phoebs old, out of L4's lap and to- _"_ _Oh Balmera is that a- a pile of cor-"_ before Hunk could even finish the thought he was regurgitating everything he's eaten this quintant. 

A small hand cautiously rests on his back rubbing back and forth to help sooth Hunk but nothing could soothe the disgust in his stomach. 

"Should I get Ryou?" Something in Hunk snaps hearing L4's soft voice, the same one he used to send that poor girl off to her grave. 

Hunk slaps L4's hands away from him and grabs the thin shirt covering L4's body. "How could you," Hunk growls, his anger rolling off of him in waves. "How could you send that girl to her death with a fucking smile!! Do you feel no remorse!!" Hunk searches L4's eyes for any sort of sadness or remorse for the child but only finds fear for Hunk. 

"Wha- what are you talking about? I sent her to become one with the quintessence, why would I feel remorse?" L4's genuine confusion only disgusts Hunk further as he throws the test subject to the floor with another growl. 

"You live for so many years beyond her and yet you still feel no remorse? You disgust me." Before L4 can say anything Hunk turns away storming out of the ballroom and down the hall as far away from the ballroom as he could while still being trapped on the castleship. 

* * *

 

L4 could not understand why Hunk freaked out earlier...

It was not like he asked to live this long...

He told himself he would tell Hunk the next chance he got...

He never did get the chance though...

 


	2. Somethings not right...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> L4 does some bonding and Hunk and Ryou get some better understanding lol

L4 sighs to himself while he pats the head of the child sleeping in his lap, making sure to rub his hand along the scales rather than against. He looks around the large room his eyes lingering on the pile of children who have already become one with the quintessence since they boarded the castleship. While it was possible that most were already on their way to becoming one with the quintessence it was impossible to believe that all of them were. It may have been a while since L4 has slept with the other children but from what he remembers it just couldn't be possible.  

L4 jerks as the door right next to him opens with a swish and Hunk steps into the room with a deep frown. L4 watches Hunks quintessence sharpen filled with anger and determination as they look down at him and the glare L4 receives sends shivers down his spine.  "Is there any other children about to die?" L4 frowns in confusion but before he can ask Hunk what he means Hunk speaks again, "I mean... ugh is there any other children about to  _become one_ with the quintessence?"

"Oh," L4 gently shifts the child from his lap to his arms and holds them up to Hunk. "This child should be going soon. A shame, they had a few more deca-phoebs before-" 

"Enough!" L4 jerks his head up confused why Hunk yelled, their yellow quintessence spiking drowning the quintessence of the children nearby. They drop to their knees roughly pulling the child out of L4's arms before standing up and walking out of the room. 

"Wha-" L4 scrambles to his feet following Hunk, "Wait! They- its tradition for them to become one with the quintessence surrounded by the other children!" He chases after Hunk, his chest tight and hurting, but Hunk did not turn around or even acknowledge L4. He kept walking further and further away, turning down corridor after corridor until L4 could no longer see him. Even so, L4 kept searching and searching till his vision was blurry and breathing was near impossible and knees giving out underneath him. L4 lays against the cold floor struggling to catch his breath, his mind spinning as he worries about the child Hunk had taken from him. 

 "L4?" The voice is soft and barely seeps past the pain but it was enough for L4 to focus in on. L4 lifts his head and looks towards the voice and stares at the deep purple as his eyes focus in enough to actually see Ryou. Ryou steps closer and bends down while another voice speaks up behind him.

 "He looks like shit." 

 Ryou sighs, "Thank you for your input Akira." Ryou gently wraps his hands underneath L4's armpits and lifts him up to his knees, "L4 why are you collapsed on the ground like this?" 

 L4 groans leaning against Ryou's chest, "Hunk... he took a child... I have to get them back before they become one with the quintessence." 

"Become one?" Akira walks around Ryou and looks down at L4. "What do mean by "become one"?" 

 L4 sighs, "It is when the quintessence within the children leaves their body and joins with the rest of the quintessence of the universe. Just like the quintessence that has passed through their bodies countless times." L4 pushes him from against Ryou's chest and up on his feet.

 Akira crosses their arms taking a step back as L4 and Ryou stands up, "And why do you need to get them from Hunk? He is probably just going to try and keep them from becoming one with quintessence." 

L4 frowns and turns to Akira while keeping his head down, "It is impossible to keep one from becoming one with a quintessence." 

Akira raises their chin to look down on L4, "Never said he will succeed." 

Ryou shakes their head and hits Akira's shoulder lightly while turning back to L4, "You still haven't said why you need to get the child back. If it is not to stop Hunk from saving- I mean keeping them from becoming one with the quintessence, what is it?"

"The children always gather together when one is becoming one with the quintessence. It is tradition and cannot be stopped," L4 balls his hands up with a scowl, "but Hunk would not listen to me."

Ryou and Akira glance at each other, Ryou raising their eyebrow in a silent question while Akira continues staring back with a blank expression. Ryou sighs and Akira turns away continuing down the hall without another word, L4 looks up just in time to see the Galran disappear around a corner. Ryou places a hand on L4's shoulder drawing his attention back to the taller human. 

"I will show you the way to the Medical Bay, try to keep up." With an affirmative nod from L4, Ryou begins to lead the way. L4 manages to surprise Ryou by not getting distracted once during the unfortunately long walk from where L4 had got himself lost and the medical bay. Ryou places his human on the panel to open the door and steps back to let L4 go inside. 

L4 walks in confidently, and with a quick glance around the spacious room spots Hunk on the floor with the child in his arms and a strange looking machine open in front of them. L4 decides he can ask about the machine later and quickly stomps over to Hunk and gently pulls the child out of their - _his?-_  lap and into L4's arms.

With the child out of Hunk's hold, L4 could clearly see the child's quintessence... or rather the remains of its quintessence. The little strips that still lingered after the main body of quintessence moved on to become one with the rest of the universes quintessence. Anger bubbles in L4 at the thought that the child had become one with the quintessence, alone and away from the rest the children and with a stranger no less. " _How could you._ " L4 throws the body at Hunk who yelps in shock. Hunk looks between the body and L4 with wide eyes, the surprise and fear clear in the mellow yellow quintessence. 

"Wha- How could I? I tried to save her-" 

"THEY DID NOT NEED SAVING!!" L4's whole body trembles and he can do nothing but scream in hopes the terrible feeling would go away. "THERE IS NO STOPPING SOMEONE FROM BECOMING ONE WITH THE QUINTESSENCE!! ALL THAT CAN BE DONE IS KEEPING THEM SURROUNDED BY THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN THERE THEIR ENTIRE LIFE!! BUT YOU-" L4 jabbed an accusing finger at Hunk, the pain building up even more and more, "YOU SELFISHLY TOOK THEM AWAY!! EVEN THE WITCH WAS NOT AS CRUEL AS TO TAKE A CHILD AWAY AS THEIR QUINTESSENCE BECAME ONE!!"

As if he had run through the whole castleship again, L4 pitifully gasps for breath, his whole body trembling but the pain was seeping outside of him slowly. 

Hunk continues blinking up at L4, his quintessence a low scared simmer compared to before. "I- I didn't know..."

L4 scoffs and turns away from Hunk, "That's what happens when you ignore people." Without a second glance back L4 storms out of the medical bay and turns to Ryou who was leaning against the wall outside of the medical bay. The two stare at each other in silence for a moment before L4 looks down with a sigh, "I apologize for my outburst... I know it was unacceptable and I-"

"L4." L4's shoulders jerk up as he looks up at Ryou who is no longer leaning against the wall, his quintessence firm yet strangely gentle when it should have been sharp with rage. "I am not upset for lashing out at Hunk. He should have respected your customs and he knows that." Ryou places his hand on L4's shoulder and L4 relaxes to the touch. "If anything I am glad you were able to fight back. Shows you are far more than a test subject." 

L4 tilts his head confused and Ryou simply shakes their head, "Don't worry about it. Let us get you and the other test subjects something to eat." That, L4 easily understood and the two leave the medical bay and Hunk behind them. 

 

L4 and Ryou make their way down the hall side by side as they chatted easily almost as if they had known each other all of L4's life. "But why is it such a disgustingly bright green," L4 whines as he struggles to carry the extremely large tub of the green goop that was supposedly food against his stomach. L4 occasionally leans against Ryou to steady himself and wrap himself in Ryou's soothing quintessence. "How is something that is supposed to go in you such a strange color?" 

Ryou sighs, easily carrying tubs of the same size as L4's in each hand on his shoulders, "That is just how it is." Ryou chuckles lightly shaking his head muttering to himself, "You sure are surprisingly whiny." 

L4 hears even so and huffs lowering his head and moving a step away and at the edges of Ryou's comforting quintessence, "Only because you do not get mad at me for speaking my thoughts. If- if you want I will stop speaking now." L4 can feel as Ryou's gaze shifts on to him and L4 shortens his stride so that he fell behind Ryou by half a step. Ryou maintains his stride for only a short moment longer before looking away from L4 and shortening his own stride so that he an L4 were once again in step. 

"You don't need to stop. I was just not expecting for that to be a characteristic of yours." Ryou's quintessence somehow softens and loosely wraps around L4's form as if the action itself was both on purpose but completely on accident. "It is a part of you L4 and there is nothing to be ashamed of from it. You are no longer just a test subject L4. You are free to be and do whatever you want, I promise."

L4 looks up at Ryou with wide blue eyes, his chest tight in a strange and almost painful way. L4 didn't know what to say and he is more than thankful that Ryou doesn't push him to. Instead, the two of them continue to walk in peaceful silence as they made their way to the large room that all of the other children are resting in. L4 takes the lead after Ryou opens the door for the two of them and lets out a low whistle that causes all of the children's heads to jerk around and face L4. In a split tick, L4 feels Ryou's quintessence tense and hesitate. Before L4 could turn to get a good look at Ryou, his quintessence softens again and Ryou is focused on placing the tubs and pulling the plates out from one of the tubs he was carrying.  

L4 turns his head back to the children who were now surrounding him and L4. He frowns and scans the crowd of children realizing that the number of children has dropped significantly. L4 quickly turns his gaze to the to the piles of bodies at the edges of the room and his frown grows tighter as he stares at the mounds of empty bodies. His stomach twists and turns painfully and L4 wraps his arms tight around his stomach biting his bottom lip to hold in a groan. A jolt travels down his spine as a large hand lands on L4's shoulder. 

L4 turns to see Ryou looking at him with a frown filled with concern rather than anger, "What is wrong L4?" 

L4 sighs and leans into Ryou's hand, "Something is wrong Ryou. They- so many- they shouldn't have gone and joined the quintessence so soon, Ryou..." L4 gestures to the mounds towards the back of the room with one of his hand, "This- this is not normal." Ryou pulls L4 into his chest and L4 doesn't hesitate to bury his face into Ryou's large and comforting chest, just barely resisting the urge to rub his face to wipe away the tears that burn L4's eyes. 

"I see..." Ryou's voice sounded so distant, L4 assumes the larger male was looking at the mounds, taking in for himself just how devastating these events are. "Good to know this is not normal..." Ryou pushes L4 off of him a little way and L4 can feel a whine attempt to spill out of him if only held back for a split second. Enough time for Ryou to continue talking, "And you have no idea why this could be possibly happening?" L4 shakes his head sadly and looks down. 

"I have never experienced anything like this in all of my deca-phoebs of living..." L4 leans into Ryou's hand when he moves it to his hair and gently rubs L4's scalp.

Ryou's quintessence vaguely brings itself to wrap around L4 in its comfort as Ryou speaks softly his tone far more sure than L4 felt, "It is alright L4. We can figure this out and I am sure Hunk could help. He is more familiar with quintessences effects on the body." L4's whole body tenses at the mention of Hunk. If L4 was entirely honest, he wants nothing to do with the balmeran and wants him nowhere near the other children. "I understand you are hesitant after what happened earlier, but he is our best bet in figuring this out." 

L4 sighs and pulls away from Ryou and his comforting quintessence and turns, his eyes gazing over the that sat in little groups eating their goo. His eyes linger on the children that have a terrible cough and the ones that lean heavily on their friends filled with causeless exhaustion. L4 bites his lip and pulls his shoulders back, "I know... and I will do anything for them." 

With that the two leave the large room in search of Hunk, L4 could only hope they could work things out.


End file.
